Turret feed



April 1970 D. E. LAMON ET AL 3,507,178

TURRET FEED 7 Sheets-Sheet- 1 Filed Aug. 31, 1965 A ril 21, 1970 D, E, LAMO N ET AL 3,507,178

TURRET FEED Filed Aug. 31, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 A TTOR/VEYS April 21, 1970 D. E. LAMON ET AL 3,507,178

TURRET FEED Filed Aug. 31, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS L A m N O M A L E D April 21, 1970 D E E F T E R R U T 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Aug. 31, 1965 IN VE N TORS ATTORNEYS April 21, 1970 D, LAMQN ET AL 3,507,178

TURRET FEED Filed Aug. 31, 1965 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 llvl ENT'oRs 94 fiar/cdioworv m M w f fa/ ATTORNEYS United States Patent TURRET FEED David E. Lamon, Edward Fred Plach, Peter C. Radix,

and Henry Paul], Jr., Appleton, Wis., assignors to Appleton Machine Company, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Aug. 31, 1965, Ser. No. 483,947

Int. Cl. B2611 /40 US. Cl. 83-369 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for supporting a plurality of rolls of wrapping material and for supplying a selected amount of wrapping material from one of the rolls to a body or roll to be Wrapped. The apparatus includes a turret structure supporting a plurality of rolls and having a web feed mechanism associated with each roll. The turret may be selectively positioned so that Web from a selected roll may be passed through a threading mechanism which guides the web from the turret to a roll or body to be wrapped. As the web is advanced to the roll to be wrapped, adhesive is applied to the leading edge of the web, and after the desired amount of wrapping material is supplied, the web is severed and adhesive applied to the trailing edge of the web.

This invention relates to a mechanism for supplying web material, and more particularly to a plural roll supporting, turret type, Web feed and selection apparatus.

In the production of large bodies or rolls of material such as paper, for example, it is desirable and often necessary to protect the outer layers of such rolls, This would appear to be readily accomplished by wrapping the rolls in a heavy protective waterproof wrapper sufficiently strong and thick to withstand the physical abuse encountered in shipment and storage. However, the wrapping of rolls of this size is not as simple as might first be surmised because of the large size of some of these rolls. For example, rolls of the type under consideration typically may range in size from two to eight feet in length and have diameters of from one to six feet. -It can be readily seen that selecting and providing a wrapper, and actually wrapping such cumbersome rolls can be quite a difficult and cumbersome operation.

An existing procedure for applying protective wrappings to these large rolls includes the following sequence of steps: 1) Manual selection of a wrapper or waterproof paper covering; (2) manual alignment and orientation of the roll on the wrapper; (3) securing the leading edge of the Wrapper to the roll; and (4) wrapping and completely covering the roll.

Any apparatus used for wrapping rolls must be capable of use with rolls of varying lengths and diameters. Therefore, it is necessary to have available various sized wrapping materials suitable for the different size rolls. It is readily apparent that the handling of wrapping materials suitable, for example, for use on the larger rolls can become extremely difiicult both because of the size and because of the weight of the material itself. In an application Ser. No. 484,021, filed on May 31, 1965, now Patent No. 3,407,565, and assigned to the assignee of this application, there is disclosed an apparatus for wrapping such rolls and for applying reinforcing banding thereto.

3,507,178 Patented Apr. 21, 1970 In accordance with the present invention there is pro- =vided apparatus which is capable of supporting a plurality of rolls of wrapping material or different sizes, which is capable of automatically selecting the proper wrapper for the roll to be wrapped and which can initiate feed of the wrapper to the rOll.

The use of such apparatus can substantially increase the efliciency of the roll Wrapping operation, particularly because of its quick and automatic selection of the proper wrapper. This wrapping selection can be accomplished While another portion of the wrapping procedure is in progress, such as positioning of the roll for wrapping. Furthermore, once the Wrapper is selected, the device can automatically feed the proper amount of wrapper to the roll, sever the wrapper, discontinue the feeding of the wrapper after the proper amount has been supplied, and thread the wrapper to the roll while applying adhesive to portions of the wrapper before it makes contact with the roll.

More specifically, apparatus incorporating the features of the present invention is capable of supporting a plurality of different width rolls of wrapping material suitable for use in wrapping large bodies or rolls which vary over wide ranges of size including, but not necessarily limited to, rolls having diameters of up to six feet and lengths ranging from two to eight feet.

The rolls of wrapping material are supported by a turret-like apparatus to which is afiixed a plurality of web feed mechanisms, one associated with each roll. The turret structure is capable of positioning a selected roll and its associated feed initiating mechanism in position wherein the web from the selected roll may be threaded out from the apparatus to the body or roll to be wrapped.

Associated with the roll supporting, selecting and positioning apparatus there is provided a threading mechanism which guides the leading edge of the Web from the turret down to the roll to be wrapped, and which maintains the web under tension while conveying it into contact with the roll. The conveying portion of the threading mechanism is provided with automatic adhesive applying means responsive to the passage of the leading and trailing edges, respectively, of the web for applying appropriate amounts of adhesive thereto so the web will adhere to the roll. Furthermore, the threading mechanism includes means for simultaneously relieving tension from the web and for severing the web when a proper amount of wrapping material has been supplied.

Thus, it can be seen that by the present invention an appropriate sized wrapping or web material can be automatically selected, positioned and threaded to a roll to be wrapped (or for any other purpose that might be desired), a proper amount of material can be selected and the web material can be severed when the selected amount has passed from the apparatus.

Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and of one embodiment thereof, from the claims and from the accompanying drawings in which each and every detail shown is fully and completely disclosed as a part of this specification, in which like numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic side view of the entire turret feed apparatus embodying features of the present 3 invention and showing both the turret support, web selection mechanism and the threading mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the turret feed appa ratus looking from the left of FIGURE 1,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG- URE 1 showing in more detail the web feed initiating and drive mechanism associated with the web guide tensioning and cut-01f assembly;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view partly in section of the web guide tensioning and cut'off assembly;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of the conveying mechanism of the present invention;

FIGURE 6 is a side view of the conveying mechanism of FIGURE 5;

FIGURES 7 and 8 are side views partially in section of adhesive applicators associated with the conveying mechanism taken along lines 77 and 8-8 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 9 is a front enlarged view of the web feed driving means; and

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged front view partially cut away of a portion of the web guide cut-off and counting mechanism, showing the measuring wheel.

One embodiment of web feed and selection apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIGURE 1 with its various components and elements in operative relation. A turret in which a plurality of rolls 16 of wrapping material of various widths are carried between two generally circular turret members 17, revolves on an axle 18 rotatably supported at either end by a pair of pillow blocks 20 mounted on the main frame 22 of the apparatus. The turret 15 is provided with a plurality of hinged bushings 24, a pair for each roll 16 of web material to be supported, which are each mounted on a mounting frame 26 interconnected with each other and with the periphery 28 of each turret member 17.

Each roll 16 of material is inserted into the turret 15 by first advancing it along a pair of rails 30' making up an external feed track until it engages feed track rail abutments 32 generally in line with the periphery 28 of the turret 15. As the turret 15 is rotated, a pair of feed pick-up rails 34 engage the core shaft 36 of the roll 16 and allow it to slide into one set of open hinged bushings 24. The bushings 24 may then be closed and locked with suitable locking pins 38 to securely and rotatably fasten roll 16 in place.

Feeding of the web 40 from each roll 16 is initiated by a web pressure feed mechanism 42 through which the web passes, one being provided for each roll, supported on suitable supports 44 interconnected between the rim 28 of each turret member 17, and suitable other additional stiffeners 46. Each web pressure feed mechanism 42 includes a driven feed drum 48 and a spring biased idler drum 50 between which the web 40 passes under pressure. As can be seen most clearly in FIGURE 2, a drive pulley 52 is attached to one end of each driven feed drum 48 externally of the turret 15. Pressure is applied to the feed mechanism 42 by biasing the idler drum 50 with a spring 54 which may be released by operation of a spring release lever 56 to allow for initial threading of the web 40 between the drums 48, 50.

One roll 16 of a desired width is selected by rotating the turret 15 until the selected roll is in feed position. Referring to FIGURES 1 and 2, the turret 15 is rotated by a pair of chain drives 58 each passing over a tensioning roller 60, around a sprocket wheel 62 keyed to a power drive shaft 64 and about the tooth peripheries 28 of the circular turret members 17. The power shaft 64 is coupled through suitable flexible couplings 66 to a reduction gear 68 which is driven by a turret drive motor 70 connected thereto by suitable pulleys 72 and belt drive 74. When the motor 70 is energized by a control signal, it rotates the turret 15 until one of the rolls 16 is in the proper feeding position. At that time the control signal de-energizes the motor 70 allowing the turret 15 to stop in the proper position.

In FIGURE 3, the turret 15 is shown positioned so one of the pressure feed mechanisms 42 is in feed position relative to a guide tensioning and cut-01f assembly 76 which operates to guide the web from the turret to the conveyor under tension, and to sever the web when the desired amount has been supplied. It should be noted that the leading edge of the web 40 passing through the pressure feed mechanism 42 extends beyond the periphery 28 of the turret 15 so that when the turret is in the position shown in FIGURE 3, the Web 40 extends over the guide assembly 76 between a counting wheel 78 and a rider drum 80.

The rider drum 80 is supported in an arm 82 which is pivotally connected to the piston 84 of a positioning cylinder 86 by a link 88. In order to allow the leading edge of the web 40 to fall between the counting wheel 78 and rider drum 89, the piston 84 is extended while the turret 15 is rotated thereby pivoting the rider drum 80 up from the position shown in FIGURE 3 and allowing the leading edge of the web 40 to fall on the counting wheel 78 when the turret 15 stops in feed position. After the turret 15 is stopped, the cylinder 86 is de-energized to reposition the rider drum 80 on the web 40 as shown.

When feeding of the web 40 is initiated, as hereinafter described, the web passes over the counting wheel 78 causing it to rotate. The wheel 78 is mounted on a bracket 90 and biased against the undersurface of the web 40 by a spring 92 extending between the wheel bracket 90* and a mounting beam 94. The counting wheel 78 is designed to measure the amount of material passing over it, and to activate a suitable counter (not shown) which can indicate the amount of material that has passed over the wheel. The web 40 passes over a web tension roller 96 which is hushed at either end in swinging brackets 98. The brackets 98 pivot about the shaft of a guide roller 100 under which the web 40 passes on its way to a conveying mechanism, which roller 100 is bushed to a pair of end plates 104 attached to the main frame 22.

When the proper amount of material has passed over the counting wheel 78, the counter will activate a suitable control circuit (not shown) thereby causing the web 40 to be severed by energizing a pair of cut-off cylinders 106 each attached at one end to the end plates 104 located at either side of the assembly 76. The piston 108 of the cylinders 106, each of which is attached to one ,end of a swinging bracket 98, are extended to cause the brackets 98 to pivot downwardly about the shaft of the guide roller 100. The pivoting swing brackets 98 drop the tension roller 96 from under the web 40, causing the web to momentarily slacken. Simultaneously, a cutter bar 110 afiixed to the upper portion of the swinging brackets 98 passes downwardly adjacent a. serrated cutoif blade 112 attached to the counter mounting beam 94 to sever the web 40 at that point.

Referring more specifically to FIGURES l and 6, the web 40 passes through the guide tensioning and cut-01f assembly 76, under the guide roller 100 and onto a first plurality of endless belts 114 which span a pair of belt rolls, a drive roll 116 and a driven roll 118, bushed respectively at either end in the back conveyor frame 120. The drive roll 116, which is driven, as hereinafter explained, through a sprocket wheel 122 keyed to its shaft, causes the belts 114 to carry the web 40 forward under an upper conveyor belt drive roll 124, bushed at either end in an upper conveyor frame 126. The web 40 continues forward on top of the conveyor belts 114 and passes under a plurality of conveyor belts 128 which span the belt drive roll 124 and conveyor belt driven roll 130 bushed in the forward end of the upper conveyor'frame 126.

As can be seen most clearly in FIGURES 5 and 6, power is transferred from the back conveyor driven roll 118 to the front conveyor drive roll 124 through a pair of spur gears 132 keyed to the shafts of the rolls 118,

124 and connected to each other by a pair of power transfer gears 134.

As the web 40 continues forward, it leaves the conveyor belts 114 and passes into a trackway 135 formed initially between the conveyor belts 124 and a flat plate 136 spanning the width of the conveyor 102. The plate 136 curves downwardly from the surface of the conveyor belts 128 at a point 138 Where it meets the surfaces of a plurality of inclined transfer belts 140 which extend between the driven roll 130 and a transfer roll 142. The transfer belts 140 continue to carry the web 40 out from the conveyor 102 until it reaches the transfer roll 142 which has been positioned adjacent the roll to be wrapped by a pair of conveyor positioning cylinders 144, only one being shown, which extend between the main frame 22 of the apparatus and pivot mounts 146 fixed to the front conveyor frame 126.

As the leading edge of the web 40 passes through the trackway 135 below the front conveyor belts 128, it engages at least one of a plurality of limit switches 148, the number engaged being dependent upon the width of the web 40, which activate control circuitry (not shown) to pivot an adhesive applicator 150 for each switch activated into contact with the under surface of the web 40. In FIGURES 7 and 8, there are shown two types of such adhesive applicators 150, that in FIGURE 7 mounted on one shaft 154 in the center of the conveyor 102 and those of FIGURE 8 pivotally mounted on shaft 156 near either side of the conveyor 102. Thus a narrow web which engages only one limit switch will cause only the center shaft 154 to rotate thereby causing only the center applicator 150 connected thereto by pivot arm 158 to rise up as shown in the dotted line. When a wider web passes through the conveyor 102 and engages all the limit switches 148, the shafts 156, to which adhesive applicators .150 illustrated in FIGURE 8 are connected by pivot arms 160, are also activated, thereby causing adhesive to be applied to the outer portions of the web 40. The limit switches 148 are also responsive to the trailing edge of the web 40 to again cause pivoting of the shafts 154, 156 as described above to apply adhesive to the trailing edge of the web.

Feed of the web 40 is initiated and maintained by a web feed drive 161 best illustrated in FIGURES 1, 3 and 9. Power for advancing the web 40 is supplied by a motor 162 which is coupled to a reduction gear 164 connected to a feed drive wheel 166 through a pair of sprocket wheels 168 and a chain drive 170 as best seen in FIGURE 3. When it is desired to initiate feed of the web, a drive wheel positioning cylinder 172 is energized to actuate its piston 173 which is connected to a drive wheel base plate 174, to which the drive wheel shaft is bushed. The drive wheel 166 is thus positioned into contact with the drive pulley 52 connected to the driven feed drum 48 of the pressure feed mechanism 42 associated with the selected roll 16. The conveyor 102 is also driven through the reduction gear 164 by a chain 170 which spans the conveyor sprocket wheel 122 keyed to the shaft of the rear conveyor drive belt roll 116 and a conveyor drive spocket wheel 178 keyed to shaft 179 coupled to the reduction gear 164 through a pair of spur gears 180.

In operation, a signal operative to select the desired roll 16 energizes the turret drive motor 70 to rotate the turret 15 through the chain drives 58 until the selected roll 16 is in feed position, at which point the drive pulley 52 keyed to the driven feed drum 48 is in position to be contacted by the feed drive wheel 166. While the turret 15 is being rotated, the rider drum positioning cylinder 86 is energized to pivot the rider drum 80 from on top of the measuring wheel 78 so that the leading edge of the selected web 40, extending beyond the periphery 28 of the turret 15, may fall into position on the measuring wheel.

Feeding of the roll is initiated by energizing the feed drive motor 162 which causes the drive wheel 166 to rotate the drive pulley 52 thereby initiating the rotation of the driven drum 48 to advance the web passing over the drum 48 under pressure from a spring biased idler wheel 50. The web 40 then passes over the tensioning roller 96 under the guide roller and into the conveyor 102 where it is carried successively by the back conveyor belts 114, the front conveyor belts 128 and the inclined transfer conveyor belts to a roll about which it is to be wrapped.

While passing through the conveyor 102, the web 40 engages one or more limit switches 148 which cause activation of a corresponding number of adhesive applicators to apply adhesive to both the leading and the trailing edge of the web 40. When a suflicient amount of material, as determined by the measuring wheel 78, has passed from the roll 16, a cut-off cylinder 106 is energized causing simultaneous release of tension on the web 40 and severing of the web by passing of the cutter bar 110 adjacent the serrated cut-off blade 112.

Thus there has been disclosed a device which is capable of efficiently selecting a roll of web material to be supplied, of positioning the roll in a feed position, of initiating and maintaining the feed of a desired amount of web material and of severing and applying adhesive to the web material to allow for ready supply of large sheets of material without delaying or hindering operations associated therewith.

While the operation of the apparatus has been described as a series of individual steps, it is apparent automatic or semi-automatic control of the various operations fall within the scope of the present invention. It also is apparent that although the present invention has been described in relation to the wrapping of rolls, it may also be utilized in other operations or for other purposes.

It will be readily observed from the foregoing detailed description of the invention and in the illustrated embodiment thereof that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the true spirit and scope of the novel concepts and principles of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A wrapper supplying apparatus comprising turret means rotatably supporting a plurality of rolls of wrapping material, said turret means provided with pressure feed means for each roll, drive means engaging a selected one of said pressure means for initiating feed of a web passing therethrough, means for rotating said turret to position said pressure feed means adjacent to said drive means, conveyor means including .a plurality of endless belt means driven by said drive means for threading the web passing therethrough to a receiving body, guide means for receiving the selected web being fed and for directing the web into said conveyor means, and means responsive to the passage of a selected amount of web for slackening and severing of the web after the preselected amount has been fed.

2. A web feed and selection apparatus comprising means for supporting and selecting one of a plurality of rolls of material and for positioning the roll in feed relationship, means for initiating feed of the web from the selected roll, means for guiding the web to a conveying mechanism, and means for simultaneously slackening the web and for severing the web.

3. A Wrapper supplying apparatus comprising turret means for supporting a plurality of rolls of wrapping material, said turret means provided with pressure feed means for each roll, means for driving one of said pressure feed means for advancing a selected web passing therethrough, means for guiding the selected web into conveying means, and means responsive to the passage of a preselected amount of the selected web for slackening and severing the web.

3,507,178 7 v 8 v 4. Apparatus for selecting a web to be supplied to 21 References Cited body comprising in combination means for selecting one UNITED STATES PATENTS of a plurality of rolls supported in the apparatus, means for initiating feed of the Web from the selected roll, 1,262,189 4/1918 Ffoehlich X means for threading of the web from the apparatus to the 5 3,373,644 3/1968 Blenand 83650 body, said Web feed initiating means also operative to V drive said web threading means, and means responsive to JAMES MEISTER Primary Exammer a predetermined amount of web passing from the apparatus for slackening the Web and simultaneously severing the Web. 10 83373, 417, 650

US. Cl. X.R. 

